Reuters Select: More than 100 die in Malaysian immigration detention camps in two years

Reuters Staff

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Exclusive: More than 100 die in Malaysian immigration detention camps in two years

More than one hundred foreigners died in the past two years in Malaysia’s immigration detention centers from diseases and unknown causes, according to documents from the government–funded National Human Rights Commission. More than half are from Myanmar, where many Rohingya Muslims have tried to escape persecution. It is unclear whether the death rate is higher than in neighboring countries, but it is higher than in major industrialized nations such as the United States, which has many more detainees and yet recorded 10 deaths in its immigration detention system in one year. Reuters’ A. Ananthalakshmi reports.

Congress craves closure on healthcare, but has no consensus on tax reform

In interviews with 10 of the roughly three dozen House Freedom Caucus, lawmakers said they were eager to put aside tensions over the debacle that sank President Donald Trump's American Healthcare Act and seek common ground on tax reform. But there is no consensus on details of a tax-reform bill, and raw feelings and mistrust could pose an obstacle to Trump and his allies as they seek to rebound from defeat on healthcare by launching into an overhaul of the U.S. tax code. Reuters' Roberta Rampton, Richard Cowan and Amanda Becker report.here

The poll asked who should take responsibility for the failure of the American Health Care Act. Republicans were most likely to blame Congress. Some 26 percent said House Democrats were most responsible and 23 percent blamed House Republicans. Another 13 percent blamed Trump and 10 percent blamed Ryan. Only 8 percent blamed the media. Reuters’ Chris Kahn reports.

Institutional Shareholder Services Inc, the world’s top proxy advisory firm, is making activist investors work harder than ever to earn its backing in corporate control battles in a shift being led by the new man in charge of its recommendations. Since Cristiano Guerra formally took over in January as the head of ISS’s special situations research team, the firm’s support for activists in proxy fights has fallen to 50 percent of the cases, compared with 60 percent last year. He also has indicated a greater willingness to challenge activist funds pushing for changes in corporate boards and strategies. Reuters’ Michael Flaherty reports.

Malaysian authorities wrongly identified the slain half-brother of North Korea’s leader as a South Korean national and first alerted Seoul’s embassy in Kuala Lumpur soon after his death, sources familiar with the incident told Reuters. How? After examining the victim’s passport, Malaysian authorities confused the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea with the Republic of Korea. Reuters’ Tom Allard, Emily Chow and James Pearson report.

Exclusive: Trump’s ‘big data’ consultant to meet Australian government

The company credited with helping Donald Trump win the U.S. presidency has registered a company in Australia and plans to meet the country’s ruling conservative Liberal Party next week. Cambridge Analytica, which has also said its “psychographic” methods helped the successful campaign for Britain to leave the European Union, has registered an Australian office at a property being redeveloped in the Sydney beachfront suburb of Maroubra. Reuters’ Byron Kaye and Jeremy Wagstaff report.

Mexico’s states are turning to Asia and beyond as some U.S. companies put investment plans on hold south of the border following President Donald Trump’s calls to bring jobs back home. Reuters’ Anthony Esposito reports.

Indonesia’s government has proposed issuing a decree to govern the domestic tobacco industry, a move that could sharply raise cigarette output in the world’s fourth-most populous nation, after a bill outlining the changes was opposed by the health ministry and anti-smoking groups. Reuters’ Eveline Danubrata and Agustinus Beo Da Costa report.